Because of increased crime and gang activity
among juveniles, the Phoenix City Council decided to create a Juvenile
Curfew Program. Phoenix has had a curfew on the records since the 1960s,
but it was not enforced. The existing ordinance also needed to be changed
because the wording did not specifically include 14-year-olds.

The Council agreed that
the program must be straightforward and easy to understand. Curfew hours,
therefore, were set at 10 p.m. every day for youths 15 years old and
younger, and midnight every day for 16- and 17-year-olds. It was clearly
defined that if youths were on legitimate business, going to or from work
or with an adult, they would not be picked up for violating curfew.

Phoenix tried a unique
approach with its program: we combined the resources of the Police and the
Parks, Recreation and Library departments. When youths are picked up for
violating curfew, they are not taken to the nearest police station.
Instead they are brought to one of four Phoenix parks and detained until
their parents or guardians can pick them up. This frees up police officers
who normally would have to spend up to two hours booking the juveniles. It
also involves recreation specialists from the parks department who can
provide counseling and other support to the kids if necessary.

The Juvenile Curfew
Program began as a pilot program in February 1993 in West Phoenix. The
city had received input from hundreds of residents who were interested in
getting youths off the streets late at night, but we wanted to make
certain that the public was willing to accept this type of program.

To inform the public, the
Public Information Office and city council members conducted a news
conference, met with editorial boards, distributed public service
announcements and participated in numerous radio and television interviews
live from the park locations where the kids would be brought for violating
curfew. We also arranged "ride alongs" with the Police Department for
reporters from the two largest daily newspapers, The Arizona Republic and
The Phoenix Gazette, so they could experience firsthand what was happening
on the streets late at night.

To make certain the public
was informed of the intent of the program, the Public Information Office
designed and printed 10,000 Q&A brochures, in English and Spanish,
that described the curfew program, its hours and purpose. The brochures
were distributed to the media, the city's 350 neighborhood associations,
schools, police stations and libraries, and were available at each of the
park locations. These brochures recently were updated and reprinted.

The Council and staff were
amazed at the overwhelming success of the pilot program and in response to
the outcry from residents throughout Phoenix who said, "We want the curfew
program in our area," the program was expanded to include North and East
Phoenix in March 1993, South Phoenix in April, and the entire city in May.

Although Phoenix is the
eighth largest city in the nation, we have more than 400 very organized,
active neighborhood organizations that always are pleased to provide us
feedback on our programs. This continues to be positive.

Additionally, the City
Council Public Safety Subcommittee conducted a public hearing on June 28,
1994 to review the one-year progress of the program and receive input from
residents. Although there was some opposition, which is to be expected,
the overwhelming majority of comments were positive and supportive of the
program.

In addition to local news
coverage, the Phoenix program has received national print and broadcast
media attention including coverage on the ABC affiliate television station
in Orlando, ABC's 20/20 and most recently, the San Diego Tribune. Our
program also has been used as a model for other cities throughout the
United States, such as Denver and Cincinnati, and we continue to receive
inquiries from across the nation.

Bus Card Plus

The Bus Card Plus Program was initiated to
attract riders to the bus system and to provide employers a device to
record their employees' use of public transit.

In 1988, Maricopa County
approved a "travel reduction" ordinance. The statute required employers
with more than 100 employees to reduce single-occupant vehicle trips to
work by five percent in two years. Transit staff offered employers
information about the bus system. However, there was no way to track bus
ridership to verify that travel was reduced by five percent.

The problem was solved by
developing the Bus Card Plus Program. Magnetic card-readers were installed
on the electronic fareboxes on every bus. Passengers slide plastic "credit
cards" through the reader, which reads information encoded on the magnetic
strips on the cards. The information is stored and downloaded nightly, and
each month employers receive detailed billing summaries from which
ridership statistics can be determined. Electronic billing is available
for participating companies to enable them to charge employees for bus
rides through payroll deductions.

The City of Phoenix Public
Transit Department, in conjunction with its management contractor, Phoenix
Transit System, allowed Phoenix to be the first in the nation to issue
transit credit cards for bus fare. Most fare instruments are paid for
prior to riding the bus and are priced at a flat fee. The Bus Card Plus
Program bills the user monthly only for the amount of time the bus is
ridden the month prior -- never more than the monthly pass.

Because the travel
reduction ordinance now includes businesses with 50 or more employees, the
potential market for the Bus Card Plus Program is 1,800 employers and
384,000 employees. As of May 1, 1995, approximately 180 companies have
joined the program, including major employers such as Maricopa County, the
City of Phoenix, IBM, The Dial Corporation, Salt River Project, Arizona
Public Service Company, Honeywell, Motorola, BankOne, and Bank of America.
More than 33,000 Bus Card Plus cards have been issued to employees of
participating organizations.

For the fiscal year
1992-93, the Bus Card Plus Program grossed $785,200. At the start of the
program there was concern that the amount of monthly passes, tickets and
other fare media sold would decrease as the amount of Bus Card Plus cards
sold increased. However, the Bus Card Plus Program was targeted toward a
brand new customer, one who had never before used the transit system. As a
result, sales of other fare media remained steady as sales of the Bus Card
Plus cards increased.

The Bus Card Plus
Program's most important achievement has been the ability to offer
Maricopa County businesses an opportunity to easily and effectively meet
the trip reduction ordinance specifications by helping to get more
individuals out of single-occupancy vehicles and onto the public transit
system. This achievement has helped to show the good will and intentions
of the City of Phoenix Public Transit Department and Phoenix Transit
System to area businesses.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors Water
Conservation

Since 1985, Phoenix has enjoyed considerable
success in promoting water conservation. Program penetration of inner city
neighborhoods, however, has been minimal. Since saving water also saves
money, finding a way to deliver water conservation programs to inner city
residents represents a prime opportunity to assist those residents least
likely to be able to invest in conservation technology as a response to
cost increases.

The Phoenix Water Services
Department has developed a public-private partnership in response to this
challenge. The three goals of the Neighbors Helping Neighbors program are:
to assist residents in achieving water conservation in areas with high
water consumption, economic hardship, and a high level of crime activity;
to provide a catalyst for neighborhood self-help for home preservation and
crime prevention; and to provide job training and employment opportunities
for Phoenix residents -- particularly youths at risk for gang involvement.

The program began in
September 1994 and targets low income neighborhoods with free water
audits, plumbing repair, and change-out of high use toilets and
showerheads with low flow fixtures. Repair and installation are handled by
apprentice plumbers at MetroTech Vocational Institute of Phoenix, the
local vocational high school. On completion of the course, students are
able to "shop" for up to $200 worth of professional tools.

One hundred homes were
scheduled for completion by May 31, 1995, and the program has been
extended through calendar year 1997.